And the best cell phone carrier is ...

[Hum]

Verizon Wireless was the highest-rated major carrier in Consumer Reports? annual cell-phone service ratings, based on a survey of 63,253 subscribers by the Consumer Reports National Research Center.

The full report can be found online at ConsumerReports.org and in the January 2013 issue of Consumer Reports, which is on newsstands now.

Of the four major U.S. national cell-phone standard service providers, Verizon Wireless led the pack, receiving favorable scores for voice and data service quality, and also for support attributes like staff knowledge and resolution of issues. Sprint, T-Mobile, and AT&T each received mostly middling to low marks, particularly for voice and text service quality.

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[tsupersonic]

I've had the big 3 carriers in my area - all get great reception, but when I travel, I've had best luck with Verizon. I'm now grandfathered into Verizon's unlimited data plan, and their 4G LTE service is excellent in my area. It bests my home internet connection (Road Runner is absolute garbage of an ISP). I get speeds of 25Mbps to 40 Mbps down, 10-20 Mbps up. I just wish they had better cell phone choices :\

[+jamesyfx Subscriber²]

The only thing I don't like about Verizon is that they plaster their name over everything. Having the name of the network printed on the phone itself cheapens it a lot in my view.

But hey, that's not very high up on the dislike scale really. :p

[tsupersonic]

The only thing I don't like about Verizon is that they plaster their name over everything. Having the name of the network printed on the phone itself cheapens it a lot in my view.

But hey, that's not very high up on the dislike scale really. :p

Which is one thing I like about the Verizon Galaxy Nexus - the Verizon logo is on the back, unlike other Verizon android phones where there is a huge Verizon logo on the front of the phone!

[_neutrino Veteran]

To be honest, I call their support every day (as part of my job) and they are always quick and willing to help. I have decent signal strength everywhere I go. and the prices are not all that bad. However, their update support and time tables are horrible for Android phones.

[Astra.Xtreme]

I can attest that Sprint has the crappiest data service of anybody. Reception isn't bad, but it's pretty much a waste to pay for data service that's unusable. Counting down the days until July when I can bail and move to Verizon. :)

[xendrome]

The only thing I don't like about Verizon is that they plaster their name over everything. Having the name of the network printed on the phone itself cheapens it a lot in my view.

But hey, that's not very high up on the dislike scale really. :p

Not to mention $150 a month for 2 phones... that's insane..

I can attest that Sprint has the crappiest data service of anybody. Reception isn't bad, but it's pretty much a waste to pay for data service that's unusable. Counting down the days until July when I can bail and move to Verizon. :)

By July their LTE service should be 75% rolled out and once it is complete, they will likely have the largest LTE service in the country with consistent data speeds. Keep an eye on it before you leave.

[Astra.Xtreme]

By July their LTE service should be 75% rolled out and once it is complete, they will likely have the largest LTE service in the country with consistent data speeds. Keep an eye on it before you leave.

Hmm, interesting. I will definitively have to keep an eye on that.

Though overall why their service sucks is because of every plan having unlimited data. Everybody just buys a cheap Android phone and tethers everything in their house to it. It's a huge problem that Sprint refuses to acknowledge. If they would be like everybody else and put limits on data, I bet their service would be right up their with Verizon. The guy that invested in Sprint not too long ago plans to make a huge overhaul to their service, but I don't think that will take effect for a few years.

[Spartan Erik]

Haha man I feel like the minority who loves T-mobile. I'm travel within major metropolitan areas, and I never have any problem with reception, call quality, or data speeds.

I know T-mobile doesn't have LTE, but HSPA+42 is pretty close, and is supported by the new Nexus 4 (which I'm waiting another month to arrive). Meantime, 4G on my HTC One S is more than adequate. Plus T-mobile's plans are generally cheaper than the other major carriers. Being GSM over CDMA is also a nice plus in my book

[Anibal P]

Haha man I feel like the minority who loves T-mobile. I'm travel within major metropolitan areas, and I never have any problem with reception, call quality, or data speeds.

I know T-mobile doesn't have LTE, but HSPA+42 is pretty close, and is supported by the new Nexus 4 (which I'm waiting another month to arrive). Meantime, 4G on my HTC One S is more than adequate. Plus T-mobile's plans are generally cheaper than the other major carriers. Being GSM over CDMA is also a nice plus in my book

Same here, you can't make me leave T-Mobile, as far as I'm concerned they are the best, and truly unlimited data is nice too

[SoCalRox]

I've had them all (that is, AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint), and did some consulting with in IT for AT&T in its Cingular Cellular days. What I saw inside Cingular sent me running to Verizon- at least, I didn't know what Verizon was doing to screw the customers. I'll NEVER have AT&T again. For all the grumbling I've heard from people about Verizon, I got great service from them. I left because their devices were old and updated late, and their data prices were high (I use a lot of data.) I've been with Sprint for several years (on my third handset with them) and really have been satisfied. I stay with Sprint because of the data costs. Being with Verizon would kill me at this point with their high data costs. I'm satisfied with Sprint- not excited by, but have received sufficiently good service that I am not considering a change. Their tech support (at the initial levels) isn't as good but it is usually adequate. I'll give Sprint a B- which is good enough to keep me next time I have the desire to update, which will be a while since I did so in July.

[Growled Member]

And AT&T was last again. No surprise there. Verizon has very spotty coverage in my area so they really don't rank that highly here.

[remixedcat]

I can attest that Sprint has the crappiest data service of anybody. Reception isn't bad, but it's pretty much a waste to pay for data service that's unusable. Counting down the days until July when I can bail and move to Verizon. :)

3G speeds on Sprint are around 400-500Kbps in my area.

Verizon's are 1.2-2.1Mbps in my area.

Verizon has the best coverage in my neck of the woods followed by Sprint, then ATT... I see people cussing out thier ATT phones all the time... LOL